• Calls for NYPA to Build All Renewables Needed to Meet Climate Goals

The Green Party of New York harshly criticized Governor Hochul and the State legislature for its failures in taking action to address the climate crisis. State officials admit that NY will fail to meet the moderate goals laid out in the state’s climate law (CLCPA), which are far weaker than in the legislation that the Green Party had promoted.

The Party called to overhaul the New York Power Authority (NPYA). NYPA should utilize the powers it was given in the Build Public Renewables Act to develop and implement a detailed plan for NYPA itself to meet and exceed all the goals outlined in the CLCPA, building even more than the 15 GW that public power advocates have called for. The Greens said that NYPA and the state should take public ownership and control of the transmission and distribution grid to lower costs and speed up the deployment of renewable energy.  (NYPA recently adopted a goal of building 5.5 GW of renewables, down from the 7 GW goal it proposed in July.)

“State lawmakers need to aggressively reject Hochul’s full-scale retreat from climate action. Lawmakers should include at least $30 billion in next year’s state budget to fund climate action, with at least 40% directly invested in environmental justice communities. They also need to not only halt any new fossil fuel and nuclear power projects but seek to phase out all existing uses in the next five to ten years,” said party co-chair Peter LaVenia.

“Contrary to the propaganda promoted by Trump and Hochul, the key to affordability is replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy. New Yorkers desperately need lawmakers with the courage and vision to put the needs of the average New Yorkers and future generations ahead of the greed and money of the fossil fuel, tech, and nuclear industries,” added Gloria Mattera, co-chair of the Green Party of NY.

The Party said that the legislature should overhaul the state’s recently updated state energy plan and its all-of-the-above energy approach to oppose fossil fuels and nuclear and at least incorporate the recommendations of the state’s Climate Action Council (as required by the CLCPA). Legislators should also take action to reject the Governor’s recent decisions on the NESE pipeline, All Electric Buildings Act, and Greenidge cryptocurrency plants, and in directing NYPA to build a nuclear plant while wasting as much as $30 billion on a twenty-year expansion of subsidies. Lawmakers need to enact the full NY Heat Act (not just the 100-foot rule), increase support for distributed solar, and increase (not cut) funding for the Empower Plus program to assist New Yorkers in decarbonizing their homes.

The state’s climate scoping document states that at least $10 billion a year in new climate funds was needed to meet the state’s goal of reducing emissions by 85% by 2050. This target is less than the Party’s 2010 Green New Deal proposal to achieve zero emissions within 10 years.   The $1 billion sustainability fund for 5 years included in last year’s budget represents only 2% of that recommendation. The Green Party would raise the funds with a robust carbon tax and dividend (as opposed to Hochul’s delayed cap and trade); an end to the rebate of the Stock Transfer Tax; and much higher taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers.

The Green Party has long advocated for public ownership and democratic control of the energy system. NYPA should offer substantial tax payments and community benefits to any community willing to host (and own) renewable energy and battery storage. The Greens support the effort to democratize NYPA by expanding the membership of its Board but it would go much further, giving voters the power to elect members and to create regional representation and control (e.g., NY Utility Democracy Act).

“The real solution is to elect a climate champion as Governor. In this year’s state budget, lawmakers should rescind Cuomo’s increase in the threshold needed to qualify as a state party with ballot access. Democrats love to tell us they hate Trump’s undemocratic initiatives, but curtailing democracy has been a bipartisan effort,” added Mark Dunlea, a co-founder of the Green Party of NY.